


Small Talk

by broadlicnic



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: Fluff, Gap Filler, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-20
Updated: 2011-07-20
Packaged: 2017-10-21 14:25:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/226195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/broadlicnic/pseuds/broadlicnic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reid makes a disastrous attempt at small talk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Small Talk

**Author's Note:**

> Way back when this was written, an episode had just aired when Reid told Luke he didn't "do" small talk. This was inspired by that.

"How many bananas would kill you?"

Luke looked up from his laptop screen, confused. Reid was reclining on the sofa beside him, medical journal in his lap and staring quizzically at his half-eaten banana.

"Excuse me?" Luke asked, bemused.

"Bananas," Reid continued. "I wonder how many you have to eat before you get potassium poisoning."

"Okay..." Luke muttered, turning his attention back to the screen.

"I think the average person would vomit before they ate nearly enough bananas to be poisoned," Reid said. He took another bite. "What do you think?"

"Reid," Luke sighed. "Does one of your patients have potassium poisoning?"

"No," Reid said, his eyes flicking from Luke to the banana in that way in which he can't focus on anything when he's out of his comfort zone. "I'm just, y'know, making conversation."

Luke laughed and set down his laptop. He raised one leg onto the sofa and turned to face Reid, resting his elbow on the back of the sofa and his cheek on his knuckles. "Is this your idea of small talk?"

"Maybe."

Luke took the banana from Reid's hand and finished it in a single mouthful. Reid looked like Luke had just kicked him in the shin.

"That was mine."

Luke swallowed and grinned. "We don't want you getting potassium poisoning." He reached out with his free hand to cup Reid's cheek. "We're dating now, we don't need to make small talk."

"But I'll need to learn how to, if I want to be Chief of Staff," Reid said, flipping the journal closed and flinging it onto the coffee table. "You and Katie are the only people I can practise on."

"And you thought you'd start with banana-related illnesses?"

"It's hard!" Reid moaned.

"Come here," Luke said, stretching back until he was half sitting, half lying down. He dragged Reid down with him to rest against him, hooking an arm over his shoulder to splay his hand over Reid's chest. Reid pulled his legs up onto the sofa, and Luke wrapped a leg around one thigh. "Comfortable?"

"To be honest, no," Reid admitted. "I feel ridiculous."

"Well tough," Luke laughed into Reid's ear. "I'm going to teach you about cuddling _and_ small talk." He pressed a light kiss to Reid's ear. "And you will like it."

Reid stretched a hand behind him to play with Luke's hair. "Okay, I'm ready."

"So," Luke began. "How was your day?"

"Horrible," Reid began. "Nurse Hairdye was so busy mooning after Casey Hughes that she forgot to change the IV of one of my recovering patients, so of course I had his disgruntled troll of a wife barging in on one of my consults to call me incompetent. Me? Can you believe it? Her husband would have been in the ground by now if it wasn't for me, and I have to say, it wouldn't be a great loss to society..."

"Alright, that was terrible," Luke said. "Try again, with a bit less... _Doctor Oliver_."

Reid shrugged as best he could with Luke wrapped around him. "I did some stuff at the hospital, bought a banana and came here."

"Now you're being too vague. Tell me about the hospital, but without going all 'REID SMASH!' on me."

"I had a consult with Mr Higgins in the morning," Reid began. "It's looking positive; we should be able to operate next week. There's a 90 per cent success rate, but in my hands, I'd say 95 per cent."

Luke nodded, and kissed Reid's hair. Reid absentmindedly stroked his free hand along Luke's thigh.

"Then what?" Luke asked.

"Well then the thing with Alison happened, then rounds...oh, and then I talked to Bob about the new wing."

"Is anything wrong?"

"No, everything's going according to plan," Reid said. "When I left the hospital, I called Katie, told her I was staying here tonight, then I went to Oldtown, and that's where I thought I might tell my boyfriend that I love him..."

Luke gasped.

"...but then I thought that was not a very Reid Oliver thing to do, and I bought a banana, and came here."

Luke was silent for over ten minutes, his body completely rigid. Reid bit down on his lip and squeezed his eyes shut, desperate to hold in his laughter. His hand left Luke's hair and grabbed the medical journal.

He was three pages into an article on trigeminal neuralgia when Luke finally managed to speak.

"You...you love...what?" Luke spluttered.

"Sorry Luke," Reid said, flipping a page. "That's too serious a topic for small talk."

Luke growled, twisting his fingers in Reid's hair and yanking his head back to meet his eyes. "Forget the small talk. Answer me."

Reid flipped over, so that they were lying together chest to chest. He cradled Luke's face, studying every feature for a long moment. He took in Luke's wide eyes, the way they darted anxiously, trying to register Reid's expression, which he deliberately left blank. He felt the shuddery breaths from Luke's slightly-parted, dry lips. He saw the way Luke's nostrils flared as he tried to control his breathing. He felt the Luke's heart thudding against his chest. He couldn't torture him any longer.

Reid's face broke into a smile, and he gently nudged Luke's nose with his own. "I love you, Luke," he said, his voice barely a whisper. Then, in a more assured manner, "Even though you stole my banana."

Luke's eyes still darted, and Reid felt somewhat taken aback. He was used to making people nervous, but not like this. He kissed him again, if only to break the tension.

"Are you gonna say anything?"

Luke swallowed. "If -" he began, his breath catching in his throat. He tried again. "If you ate lots of bananas in a short amount of time, but not immediately one after the other, maybe you'd still have the potassium in your system, but you would have had time to digest some of them."

Reid wrinkled his nose. "Maybe." He settled himself down, head pressed against Luke's chest, arm slung over Luke's torso. "But I think after a while, just the taste of bananas would make you sick. regardless of how much you had eaten."

"Good point," Luke mused. He received a text message then. "It's Casey. Katie and Chris have invited him and Ali for dinner tomorrow. He wants to know if we'll be there."

"As long as you don't have me practising my small talk on Doogie, sure."

"Great," Luke smiled, and began typing a reply. "Oh, and for the record, I love you too."

Reid closed his eyes. "Well, why wouldn't you?"


End file.
